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{{Use Indian English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| honorific-prefix = Acharya
| name = Hemachandra
| image = Hemachandra.gif
| alt = Hemachandra
| caption = Drawing of Hemchandra based on ''[[Vikram Samvat]]'' 1294 palm leaf
| religion = [[Jainism]]
| sect = [[Śvētāmbara]]
| official_name = Acharya Hemchandra Suri
| birth_name = Changadev
| birth_date = c. 1088 (''see notes'')
| birth_place = [[Dhandhuka]]
| death_date = c. 1173 (''see notes'')
| death_place = [[Anhilwad Patan]]
| parents = Chachinga, Pahini
| initiation_name = Somchandra
| initiator = Devchandrasuri
| initiation_place = [[Khambhat]]
| honorific-suffix = Suri
| notable works = Siddh Hem Shabdanushaasan, Yogsastra
| post = [[Acharya (Jainism)]]
| background =
}}
{{Jainism}}
[[Acharya]] '''Hemachandra''' was an [[India]]n [[Jainism|Jain]] scholar, poet, mathematician and [[polymath]] who wrote on [[grammar]], philosophy, [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosody]], mathematics and contemporary history. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gained the title ''kalikālasarvajña'', "the knower of all knowledge in his times".

==Early life==

Hemachandra was born in [[Dhandhuka]], in present-day [[Gujarat]], on Kartika Sud Purnima (the full moon day of Kartika month). His date of birth differs according to sources but 1088 is generally accepted.<ref group=note>The dates of birth and death differs according to sources. He was initiated at age of 21.</ref><ref name="Joshi2005">{{cite book|first=Dinkar|last=Joshi|title=Glimpses of Indian Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-fw-0iBvmMAC&pg=PA80|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Star Publications|isbn=978-81-7650-190-3|pages=79–80}}</ref> His father, Chachiga-deva was a [[Modh]] [[Bania (caste)|Bania]] [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava]]. His mother, Pahini, was a [[Jainism|Jain]].<ref name="Dundas2002">{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Dundas|title=The Jains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jt6-YXE2aUwC&pg=PA134|year=2002|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-26606-2|pages=134–135}}</ref><ref name="Dattavarious2006">{{cite book|first1=Amaresh|last1=Datta|author2=various|title=The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (A To Devo)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC&pg=PA15|volume=1|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1803-1|pages=15–16}}</ref> Hemchandra's original given name was Changadeva. In his childhood, the [[Jain monasticism|Jain monk]] Devachandra Suri visited Dhandhuka and was impressed by the young Hemachandra's intellect. His mother and maternal uncle concurred with Devachandra, in opposition to his father, that Hemachandra be a disciple of his. Devachandra took Hemachandra to [[Khambhat]], where Hemachandra was placed under the care of the local governor Udayana. Chachiga came to Udayana's place to take his son back, but was so overwhelmed by the kind treatment he received, that he decided to willingly leave his son with Devachandra.{{sfn|Asoke Kumar Majumdar|1956|p=97}}

Some years later, Hemachandra was initiated a Jain monk on Magha Sud Chauth (4th day of the bright half of Magha month) and was given a new name, Somchandra. Udayana helped Devchandra Suri in the ceremony.<ref name="Dundas2002"/><ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> He was trained in religious discourse, philosophy, logic and grammar and became well versed in Jain and non–Jain scriptures. At the age of 21, he was ordained an [[acharya]] of the [[Śvētāmbara]] school of Jainism at [[Nagaur]] in present-day [[Rajasthan]]. At this time, he was named Hemachandra Suri.<ref name="Dundas2002"/><ref name="Dattavarious2006"/><ref name="Hema" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283442|title=The Kumarapalacarita (Prakrta Dvyasraya Kavya) of Hemachandra with commentary of Purnakalashagani|publisher=The Bhandarkar Oriental Institute|others=P. L. Vaidya (revision)|year=1936|editor-last=Pandit|editor-first=Shankar Pandurang|edition=2|series=Bombay Sanskrit and Prakrit Series Book LX|location=Poona|pages=xxiii-xxv}}</ref>

==Hemachandra and Siddharaja==
[[File:Bust of Acharya Hemachandra.jpg|thumb|Bust of Hemachandra at [[Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University]]]]
At the time, Gujarat was ruled by the [[Chaulukya dynasty]] from [[Patan, Gujarat|Anhilavada]] (Patan). It is not certain when Hemachandra visited Patan for the first time. As Jain monks are [[mendicant]]s for eight months and stay at one place during [[Chaturmas]], the four monsoon months, he started living at Patan during these periods and produced the majority of his works there.<ref name="Dundas2002"/><ref name="Dattavarious2006"/>

Probably around 1125, he was introduced to the [[Jayasimha Siddharaja]] ([[floruit|fl.]] 1092–1141) and soon rose to prominence in the Chaulukya royal court.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> According to the ''[[Prabhavakacarita]]'' of [[Prabhācandra]], the earliest biography of Hemachandra, Jayasimha spotted Hemachandra while passing through the streets of his capital. The king was impressed with an impromptu verse uttered by the young monk.{{sfn|Asoke Kumar Majumdar|1956|p=83}}

In 1135, when the Siddharaja conquered [[Malwa]], he brought the works of [[Bhoja]] from Dhar along with other things. One day Siddhraja came across the manuscript of ''[[Sarasvati-Kanthabharana]]'' (also known as the ''Lakshana Prakash''), a treatise on [[Sanskrit grammar]]. He was so impressed by it that he told the scholars in his court to produce a grammar that was as easy and lucid. Hemachandra requested Siddharaja to find the eight best grammatical treatises from [[Kashmir]]. He studied them and produced a new grammar work in the style of [[Pāṇini]]'s ''Aṣṭādhyāyī''.<ref name="Dundas2002"/><ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> He named his work ''Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana'' after himself and the king. Siddharaja was so pleased with the work that he ordered it to be placed on the back of an elephant and paraded through the streets of Anhilwad Patan.<ref name="Meghani2003">{{cite book|first=Jhaverchand|last=Meghani|author-link=Jhaverchand Meghani|title=A Noble Heritage: A Collection of Short Stories Based on the Folklore of Saurashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scNjAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|page=xviii}}</ref> Hemachandra also composed the ''Dvyashraya Kavya'', an epic on the history of the [[Chaulukya dynasty]], to illustrate his grammar.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/>

==Hemachandra and Kumarapala==
[[File:Hemachandra JCNJ.jpg|thumb|Idol of Hemachandra at Jain Center of New Jersey, US]]
According to the ''Prabhachandra'', there was an incident where Siddharaja wanted to kill his nephew [[Kumarapala (Chaulukya dynasty)|Kumarapala]] because it was prophesied that the kingdom would meet its demise at Kumarapala's hands. Hemachandra hid Kumarapala under a pile of manuscripts to save him.<ref name="Dundas2002"/> However, such motifs are common in Indian folk literature, so it is unlikely it was an actual historical event. Also, many sources differ on Siddharaja's motives.<ref name="Dundas2002"/>

Hemachandra became the advisor to Kumarapala.<ref name="Dundas2002"/><ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> During Kumarapala's reign, Gujarat became a center of culture. Using the Jain approach of ''[[Anekantavada]]'', Hemchandra is said to have displayed a broad-minded attitude, which pleased Kumarapala.<ref name=Hema>{{cite web | title =Hemacandra | publisher =Jain World | url =http://www.jainworld.com/literature/story28.htm | access-date =6 May 2008 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080429205050/http://www.jainworld.com/literature/story28.htm | archive-date =29 April 2008 | url-status =dead }}</ref> Kumarapala was a [[Shaivism|Shaiva]] and ordered the rebuilding of [[Somnath]] at [[Prabhas Patan]]. Some people who were jealous of Hemachandra's rising popularity with the Kumarapala complained that Hemachandra was a very arrogant person, that he did not respect the [[Deva (Hinduism)|deva]]s and that he refused to bow down to [[Shiva]]. When called upon to visit the temple on the inauguration with Kumarapala, Hemachandra readily bowed before the [[lingam]] but said:{{quote|''Bhava Bijankaura-janana Ragadyam Kshayamupagata Yasya, Brahma va Vishnu va Haro Jino va Namastasmai.'' <br><br>I bow down to him who has destroyed the passions like attachment and malice which are the cause of the cycle of birth and death; whether he is [[Brahma]], [[Vishnu]], [[Shiva]] or [[Tirthankara|Jina]].<ref name="Hema" /><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopaedia of Oriental Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgNHE-48jNcC&pg=PA278|publisher=Global Vision Pub House|isbn=978-81-8220-113-2|page=278}}</ref>}} Ultimately, the king became a devoted follower of Hemachandra and a champion of Jainism.<ref name="Dundas2002"/><ref name="Hema" />

Starting in 1121, Hemachandra was involved in the construction of the [[Jain temple]] at [[Taranga Jain temple|Taranga]]. His influence on Kumarapala resulted in Jainism becoming the official religion of Gujarat and animal slaughter was banned in the state. The tradition of [[animal sacrifice]] in the name of religion was completely uprooted in Gujarat. As a result, even almost 900 years after Hemchandra, Gujarat still continues to be a predominantly [[lacto vegetarianism|lacto-vegetarian]] state, despite having an extensive coastline.<ref name="Dundas2002"/><ref name="Dattavarious2006"/>

==Death==
He announced about his death six months in advance and fasted in his last days, a Jain practice called ''[[sallekhana]]''. He died at Anhilavad Patan. The year of death differs according to sources but 1173 is generally accepted.<ref name="Joshi2005"/>

==Works==
A prodigious writer, Hemachandra wrote [[grammar]]s of [[Sanskrit]] and [[Prakrit]], [[poetry]], [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosody]], [[lexicons]], texts on [[science]] and [[logic]] and many branches of [[Indian philosophy]]. It is said that Hemachandra composed 3.5 [[crore]] verses in total, many of which are now lost.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

===Jain philosophy===
[[File:12th-century Yogasastra, Hemachandra Jainism, Sanskrit, 1 mm Devanagari script.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.25|A 12th-century manuscript of Hemachandra's ''Yogasastra'' in Sanskrit. The text is notable for using 1 mm miniaturized Devanagari script.]]
His systematic exposition of the Jain path in the [[Yogaśāstra]] and its auto-commentary is a very influential text in Jain thought. According to Olle Quarnström it is "the most comprehensive treatise on [[Svetambara]] [[Jainism]] known to us".<ref>Olle Quarnström, The Yogasastra of Hemacandra : a twelfth century handbook of Svetambara Jainism, 2002, introduction</ref>

===Grammar===
[[File:Instruction by Monks, Folio from a Jain text of Sanskrit Grammar, the Siddhahemashabdanushasana by Hemachandra (1089-1172) LACMA M.88.62.2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Hemachandra's grammar text ''Siddhahemashabdanushasana'' in Sanskrit]]
The ''Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana'' includes six languages: [[Sanskrit]], the "standard" [[Prakrit]] (virtually [[Maharashtri Prakrit]]), [[Shauraseni language|Shauraseni]], [[Magahi language|Magahi]], [[Paiśācī]], the otherwise-unattested Cūlikāpaiśācī and [[Apabhraṃśa]] (virtually Gurjar Apabhraṃśa, prevalent in the area of Gujarat and [[Rajasthan]] at that time and the precursor of [[Gujarati language]]). He gave a detailed grammar of Apabhraṃśa and also illustrated it with the folk literature of the time for better understanding. It is the only known Apabhraṃśa grammar.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> He wrote the grammar in form of rules, with 8 Adhyayas (Chapters) and "Tattvaprakaashika prakash" with "maharnav nyaas" in one year. [[Jayasimha Siddharaja]] had installed the grammar work in Patan's (historically Anhilpur) state library. Many copies were made of it, and many schemes were announced for the study of the grammar. Scholars named Kaakal and Kaayasth took great efforts to teach the grammar.<ref>'Prastaavna', Haim Sanskrit Praveshika by Pandit Shivlal Nemchand Shah, Bhadrankar Prakashan.</ref>

===Poetry===
[[File:Worship of Parshvanatha, Folio from a Jain text of Sanskrit Grammar, the Siddhahemashabdanushasana by Hemachandra (1089-1172) LACMA M.88.62.1.jpg|thumb|Worship of Parshvanatha, Folio from the Siddhahemashabdanushasana]]

To illustrate the grammar, he produced the epic poetry ''Dvyashraya Kavya'' on the history of [[Chaulukya dynasty]]. It is an important source of history of region of the time.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> The [[epic poetry|epic poem]] ''Trīṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacharitra'' or "Lives of Sixty-Three Great Men" is a [[hagiography|hagiographical treatment]] of the twenty four [[tirthankara]]s and other important persons instrumental in defining the Jain philosophical position, collectively called the "[[Salakapurusa|śalākāpuruṣa]]", their asceticism and eventual liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth, as well as the legendary spread of the Jain influence. It still serves as the standard synthesis of source material for the early history of Jainism.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> The appendix to this work, the ''[[Parishishtaparvan|Pariśiṣṭaparvan]]'' or ''Sthavirāvalīcarita'',{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=26}} contains his own commentary and is in itself a treatise of considerable depth<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> It has been translated into English as ''The Lives of the Jain Elders''.<ref name="HemacandraFynes1998">{{cite book|author1=Hemacandra|author2=R. C. C. Fynes|title=The Lives of the Jain Elders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=quNpKVqABGMC|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-283227-6}}</ref> In the test, Hemchandra accepts the polyandry of [[Draupadi]] and further suggests that Draupadi was Nagasri in one of his previous lives and had poisoned a Jain monk. Therefore, she had to suffer in hell and animal incarnations for several lives before being born as woman who later became a Jain nun. After her death, she was reborn as Draupadi and was married to five pandavas.{{sfn|Doniger|1993|p=241}} His ''Kavyanuprakasha'' follows the model of Kashmiri rhetorician Mammata's ''Kavya-prakasha''. He quoted other scholars like [[Anandavardhana]] and [[Abhinavagupta]] in his works.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/>

=== Lexicography ===
''Abhidhan-Chintamani'' (IAST abhidhāna-cintāmaṇi-kośa) is a [[lexicon]] while ''Anekarth Kosha'' is a lexicon of words bearing multiple meanings. ''Deshi-Shabda-Sangraho'' or ''Desi-nama-mala'' is the lexicon of local or non-Sanskrit origin. ''Niganthu Sesa'' is a botanical lexicon.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/>

===Prosody===
He composed the ''Chandonushasana'', a work on [[Metre (poetry)|prosody]], with commentary.

===Mathematics===
[[File:Thirteen ways of arranging long and short syllables in a cadence of length six.svg|thumb|Thirteen ways of arranging long and short syllables in a cadence of length six, here shown with [[Cuisenaire rods]] of length 1cm and 2cm]]
Hemachandra, following the earlier Gopala, described the [[Fibonacci number#History|Fibonacci sequence]] in around 1150, about fifty years before [[Fibonacci]] (1202). He was considering the number of cadences of length ''n'', and showed that these could be formed by adding a short syllable to a cadence of length ''n'' − 1, or a long syllable to one of ''n'' − 2. This recursion relation ''F''(''n'') = ''F''(''n'' − 1) + ''F''(''n'' − 2) is what defines the Fibonacci sequence.<ref name="kosh" /><ref name="tetlow" />

He (c. 1150 AD) studied the rhythms
of Sanskrit poetry. Syllables in Sanskrit are either long or short. Long syllables have twice
the length of short syllables. The question he asked is How many rhythm patterns with a
given total length can be formed from short and long syllables?
For example, how many patterns have the length of five short syllables (i.e. five "beats")?
There are eight:
SSSSS, SSSL, SSLS, SLSS, LSSS, SLL, LSL, LLS
As rhythm patterns, these are
xxxxx, xxxx., xxx.x, xx.xx, x.xxx, xx.x., x.xx., x.x.x <ref>http://people.sju.edu/~rhall/Multi/rhythm2.pdf</ref>

===Other works===
His other works are a commentary in rhetoric work ''Alankara Chudamani'', ''Abhidhana-chintamani'',<ref name="Dundas2002"/><ref>Olle Quarnström (2002), The Yogaśāstra of Hemacandra: A Twelfth Century Handbook of Śvetāmbara Jainism, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|978-0674009349}}</ref> ''Pramana-mimansa'' (logic), ''Vitaraga-Stotra'' (prayers).<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/>

==See also==
* [[List of Indian mathematicians]]
*[[Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}
* As per ''Dundas'', (1089–??)<ref name="Dundas2002"/>
* As per ''Datta'' and ''Jain World'', (1088–1173)<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/><ref name="Hema" />
* As per ''Gujarat Gazetteers, Volume 18'', (1087–1174)<ref name="(India)1984">{{cite book|author=Gujarat (India)|title=Gazetteers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aFNuAAAAMAAJ|year=1984|publisher=Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications|page=183}}</ref>
* As per ''Indian Merchants and Entrepreneurs'', (1089–1173)<ref name="Mehta1991">{{cite book|first=Makrand|last=Mehta|title=Indian Merchants and Entrepreneurs in Historical Perspective: With Special Reference to Shroffs of Gujarat, 17th to 19th Centuries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lz3gNDMbWEC&pg=PA65|date=1 January 1991|publisher=Academic Foundation|isbn=978-81-7188-017-1|page=65}}</ref>

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="kosh">{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Koshy |title=Fibonacci and Lucas numbers with applications |year=2001 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |quote=... before Fibonacci proposed the problem; they were given by Virahanka (between 600 and 800 AD), Gopala (prior to 1 135 AD), ... | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_juAAAAMAAJ&q=Fibonacci+gopala|isbn= 9780471399698}}</ref>
<ref name="tetlow">{{cite book |first=Philip |last=Tetlow |title=The Web's awake: an introduction to the field of Web science and the concept |year=2007 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |quote=This sequence was first described by the Indian mathematicians Gopala and Hemachandra in 1150, who were investigating the possible ways of exactly packing items of length 1 and 2 into containers. In the West it was first studied by ... | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBskd46jR10C&q=Gopala+Hemachandra&pg=PA79 |isbn=978-0-470-13794-9 }}</ref>}}

===Sources===
* {{citation |editor-last=Doniger |editor-first=Wendy |editor-link=Wendy Doniger |title=Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC |year=1993 |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]] |isbn=0-7914-1381-0 }}
* {{cite book |author=Asoke Kumar Majumdar |title=Chaulukyas of Gujarat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ffAdAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |year=1956 |oclc=4413150 }}
* {{citation |last=Singh |first=Upinder |author-link=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |date=2016 |isbn=978-93-325-6996-6 |ref={{sfnref|Upinder Singh|2016}} }}
* Cinnaiya, S., Nayara, H. K., & [[Mathura]], R. (2017). ''Cakita kare Fibonācī''. [[Bangalore|Bengaluru]]: Pratham Books.

==External links==
* [https://www.wisdomlib.org/jainism/book/trishashti-shalaka-purusha-caritra/d/doc213981.html Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra of Hemchandra] English translation of books 1-10
* [http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/ckeyt/txt3.htm Bibliography of Hemachandra's works, Item 687], Karl Potter, University of Washington
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/16OhgBxSRynSYEKB0fD71wUUXcoel4L1u/view Acharya Hemchandra by Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Academy]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120716224803/http://www.sju.edu/~rhall/Multi/rhythm2.pdf The Rhythm of Poetry]
* [https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0411195 The Golden Mean and the Physics of Aesthetics]

{{Jain Gurus}}
{{Jainism topics}}
{{Hatha yoga}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemachandra, Acharya}}
[[Category:1080s births]]
[[Category:1172 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century Indian mathematicians]]
[[Category:12th-century Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Jain acharyas]]
[[Category:History of Gujarat]]
[[Category:Fibonacci numbers]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language writers]]
[[Category:Gujarati people]]
[[Category:Cultural history of Gujarat]]
[[Category:Indian Jain monks]]
[[Category:12th-century Indian Jain poets]]
[[Category:12th-century Jain monks]]
[[Category:12th-century Indian monks]]
[[Category:Jain law]]
[[Category:Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Indian male philosophers]]
[[Category:12th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Scholars from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Śvētāmbara monks]]

Hemachandra - Revision history

SnehAnchliya: updated details

>Marcocapelle: /* External links */more specific categorization